


I'll be back before you know I'm gone

by Daughter_of_the_TARDIS



Series: Best of Wives [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: BAMF River Song, Cute, Epilogue, F/F, Fluff, Space Wives, curious companions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 02:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS/pseuds/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS
Summary: “Is it a wedding ring or not, Doc?” Graham asked, sounding thrilled with the idea.  “Do aliens have weddings?”The epilogue to my story "Best of Wives and Best of Women."





	I'll be back before you know I'm gone

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my amazing beta for all the work she does on my stories!

Yas breathed in the cool autumn air, grinning at Ryan and Graham as the TARDIS faded into view. While she was glad that they had all taken the time to come back home for a bit, she was equally glad to be disappearing again. Seeing the universe was all well and good, but sometimes a girl needed her own family and flat. Especially after the last time she had come home. Now all her mum wanted to do was interrogate her about the Doctor, and how she knew her friends. It only made things worse when her sister started interrogating her about Ryan and whether or not he was single.

“Has anyone else really missed this?” Ryan asked, looking at the blue of the ship. Both Yas and Graham nodded, nearly identical grins on their own faces.

Yas was the first to step forward, one hand on the door as she looked back at her companions. “Let’s go.” 

As soon as she pushed the doors to the TARDIS open and stepped inside, she knew that something had changed. Everything looked the same to her trained eye - the walls were still the same golden color with spots of glowing blue light; the center console was still made of the same crystal. But something had changed. The ship itself seemed brighter, and the background hum that the ship always produced seemed happier. The Doctor swore her ship was alive, and this was almost enough for them all to believe her.

“How long has it been?” The Doctor asked, coming over and throwing her arms around each of them in turn. 

“Only a day or so.” Ryan reassured, a small smile on his face as their diminutive pilot attacked them all. 

She smiled up at them - a sort of happiness that they had never seen from her before, like everything in the universe was right. “Brilliant. Was worried that I had come back late - I've been told I have a habit of doin’ that.”

Yas couldn't help but roll her eyes even as she smiled, accepting the Doctor's babbling for what it was - faster-than-lightspeed information dispersal. None of them thought it was anything else, and let the soothing sound of her rambling wash over them.

But it was only when they were taking off that she actually noticed a physical difference.

“What is that?” she asked, her eyes widening as she pointed at the Doctor’s hand where it rested on the dematerialization lever. Of course, the Doctor pretended as though she had no idea what her friend was talking about.

“That? That’s the biscuit dispenser, Yas - don’t act so surprised, you’ve seen it before.”

“That is not what I was askin’ about, and you know it.” Yas shot back.

The Doctor looked down at the ring on her finger, a small smile lighting up her face. “Oh, that.” she said, fiddling with it.

“Is that what I think it is?” Ryan asked, looking shocked.

“That really depends. What do you think it is?” That was one of Ryan’s favorite things about the Doctor - she could say anything, and it would sound sincere, when coming from anyone else it would have sounded completely sarcastic. 

“Is it a wedding ring or not, Doc?” Graham asked, sounding thrilled with the idea. “Do aliens have weddings?”

“Sort of a wedding. More of a vow renewal, really.” then she paused, looking up at them with a furrowed brow. “Does it count as a vow renewal if the other person doesn’t know it’s you?” the Doctor asked, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Graham nodded. “I'm sure it does, Doc.” He reassured, and she smiled, turning back to the TARDIS console.

“How did it happen, then?”

She turned and walked away, her friends following behind her as she made her way to the galley for a cup of tea. “How did what happen?” she asked, looking back at them over her shoulder.

“Your wedding!” they chorused.

The Doctor smiled fondly as they entered the kitchen, and she made a beeline for the kettle. “We got caught raiding a sacred temple, and got married to avoid being killed for desecrating sacred ground. It was all her idea - she needed the artifact that they kept there.” she told them, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the stove. No matter how many times over the centuries River had told her that an electric kettle was easier, she still preferred the old-fashioned version.

Yasmin and Graham both stared at her in shock and horror, but Ryan grinned. “Oh my god.” Ryan whispered, sounding awed. “You married the female Indiana Jones.”

The Doctor looked pleased. “I guess I did, didn’t I?” she hummed.

“So?” Yas asked. “What’s she like?”

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a picture, smiling at it for a moment before she showed it to the others. It was a picture of the Doctor, staring besottedly at a curly-haired woman with a gun strapped to her thigh. She was staring at the Doctor with the same amount of affection, a warm smile curling red-painted lips.

“That’s your wife?” Ryan asked. He looked impressed.

“If you think that’s good, you should see her take out an army.” the Doctor said cheekily, staring at the picture with a giddy expression. “Isn’t she amazing?”

“But… she's carryin’ a gun.” Yas pointed out. “You hate guns.”

She shrugged, the weight of her coat a familiar warmth moving up and down with the motion. “Never minded them as much when it was River carryin’ it.” She admitted. “Although to be fair, she did tend to use it a lot.”

“What was she like?” Graham asked.

“I bet she was just like you, man.” Ryan said, grinning as he jumped up onto the counter. “Indiana Jones with a heart of gold.”

“Nah, she’s nothing like me.” the Doctor shook her head, dismissing the very thought. “She likes trouble and explosions and... “ she paused, as if reconsidering. “Ok, maybe she’s a bit like me. But with a gun and a habit of shooting people.” she said, missing the horrified looks on Graham and Yasmin's faces. “Shouldn’t like that, really. Kind of do anyway.”

“Your wife shot people?” Yas asked, her voice faint. This was a whole new side to the Doctor, one she had never seen before.

“Sucker for a bad girl, me.” the Doctor shrugged, a faint blush playing over her cheeks.

Ryan looked back at the picture of River with a sort of reverent awe that she had never seen before. “That is wicked.” He said, and the Doctor nodded with pride.

“You said she didn’t know who you were.”. Yas asked - the copper's intuition coming to the surface as she subtly interrogated her friend. “What did she say when you told her it was you?”

The Doctor winced. “About that. I sort of… didn't.” she admitted. “She thought I was one of the friends that I travel with.”

“Okay…” Yas said slowly, drawing out the word. “But what did she say when you told her the truth?” 

She blushed again. “I sort of… didn't?” she repeated, burrowing in on herself. It wasn’t one of her finest moments, she would freely admit that. But River had just… appeared out of nowhere. And then they were running and going on adventures and everything was perfect - she didn’t want to risk that changing.

“So you can face down murderous aliens that steal teeth, and giant spiders, but you can’t tell your wife who you are?” Graham asked, leaning against the counter next to where Ryan sat. There was a sad sort of smile on his face that let the Doctor know that Graham probably knew exactly why she did what she did, and that he didn’t fault her in the slightest for it.

The Doctor nodded. “That about sums it up.” she said, keeping her attention on the toaster as she fixed breakfast. She had no idea whether or not it was actually breakfast time, but it seemed to be as good a time as any to eat a croissant. It also seemed that while this face was much better at not hiding her emotions all the time, she still didn’t like her friends to see her weaknesses.

“How'd you run into her, anyway?” Ryan asked.

She grinned, a few strands of blonde hair falling into her face as she turned to look at them. “She was trying to steal my TARDIS.” her friends all winced, expecting the next part of the story to involve some sort of fight. They had all seen the strange bond the Doctor had with her ship. “Then we were runnin’ from Sontarans - she can never resist makin’ jokes about baked potatoes when the Sontarans are involved. Then it was stolen diamonds from the planet Midnight, followed by a pleasure cruise that had been taken over by Zygons. After that we tried Machu Picchu, and then one of the planets where they worship River as a goddess, then it was-”

“How many planets -” Ryan interrupted, and the Doctor answered his question before he could even finish it.

“Thirty-seven. Then it was Zhoro, planet of the Zhoroff - where we got married this time.”

“Even after all that trouble, you still married her?” Yas asked in disbelief.

The alien woman stared at her friend with an equal amount of shock and disbelief. “I wasn’t about to let her get away.” she said, as if the answer was obvious. And to her, it was. 

There was a minute or two of silence before the kettle sung out, making them all jump at the sudden sound.

“You can still find her again, right?” Graham asked softly. Even though she had left her wife behind, the Doctor still looked the happiest he had ever seen. It was like she was pure sunshine put into a human form.

“I hope so.” she admitted. “We never really know when we'll meet. Sort of a surprise every time. That's the trouble with time travel - you never meet up in the right order.”

“Still.” Yas added, always the optimist. “You could see her again.”

That made the Doctor brighten up a bit. “Maybe someday.” she agreed. “If I’m really, really lucky.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please review!


End file.
